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Monday, September 04, 2006

NATO Engages Taliban: Taliban Loses AgainThis comes from the Telegraph as they report on "Operation: Medusa;" an offensive against Taliban forces in Afghanistan.(Hat-Tip: Captain Ed Morrissey)More than 200 Taliban fighters have been killed in a major Nato offensive in southern Afghanistan, along with four Canadian troops.Operation Medusa, launched by alliance and Afghan forces in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province, involved hundreds of troops, backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships.

A Nato spokesman said: "Reports indicate that more than 200 Taliban fighters have been killed since Operation Medusa began early on Saturday morning." He added that Afghan soldiers had captured more than 80 other Taliban.Fourteen British personnel were killed when their Nimrod reconnaisance plane crashed while supporting Operation Medusa.

Officials said the crash was caused by a technical problem, though the Taliban claimed its fighters shot the aircraft down with a Stinger missile.Panjwai has seen heavy fighting before, and several thousand people fled the region earlier this year to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

The insurgency in Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest period since coalition forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. More than 2,000 people have been killed, including over 110 foreign troops.

The Taliban is showing its desperation againstthe NATO forces there. They have decided to actually engage a better-trained, better-equipped military force, and they are losing their front. And what will likely happen is that they will retreat back into the mountains, making their way back across the border. And I am disappointed that there is no mention of Pakistani reinforcements to block the Taliban's return.The reson for the fighting is that the Taliban knows it is on its last leg. If they lose the fight in Afghanistan, and that front of the war is closed, all eyes shift to Iraq, and it will not be pretty when NATO forces arrive there. As it stands right now in Iraq, coalition forces are making gains against the terrorists, and so are the Iraqi forces. It was reported over the weekend that the number two guy in al-Qaeda, in Iraq, was caught. The gains al-Qaeda keeps hyping come in body counts whereas our gains come in killing or capturing them. The problem the terrorists have on both fronts is they do not realize how badly beaten they are. Their recruitment numbers are not getting better, and their "soldiers" are being slaughtered when they engage us or coalition forces. The Iraqis are equally as deadly as the coalitions troops are, but they lack the experience that coalition forces possess. That experience will come with time. And time is something that we are running short on. That and patience. With Iran looming on the horizon, we are going to have to focus our sights on them very soon. We need some significant victories in this war, on both fronts. This is a start. Hopefully NATO and coalition forces can pull off a few more.